Is Blogging the New Journaling?

Some of us are old enough to remember when journaling was all the rage in school. You had to write everyday and (if you had my teacher) if you didn't have anything to say you just wrote I don't have anything to write over and over again for the entire writing time (it was probably ten minutes but it felt like hours).

Fast forward to today when I am reading the Yang article on blogging and I thought Ah ha, this is what they were trying to do. They were trying to give the quiet kid who never raised their hand a voice. They were giving the kid who needs a little time to think a moment to collect their thoughts and put them on paper. This was a good practice.

Blogging is an updated form journaling but technology makes it even better for students. Here are some of the benefits of blogging as outlined in the article (I added a couple of my own).

Bitmoji Image

They can serve as portfolios that show student learning over time.
They are easily shareable. (Raise your hand if you have ever stood in front of the class with your knees knocking to share something you wrote.)
It encourages collaboration amongst peers.
It makes learning students centered.
It encourages students to write, even if it is in an informal setting.
It gives all students a voice.
It allows the teacher to get to know the student.

All in all blogging seems to have a lot of benefits in the classroom. I know that I will be incorporating blogging into my regular classroom activities this upcoming fall. Can anyone think of any other benefits? Are you going to use blogging in the classroom? If so what is your plan?

Comments

Think Big!!!

Full transparency I thought this produsage assignment would be a piece of cake. After all this is what I do. I have written thousands of lesson plans over the past 27 years. What actually happened, I got a really good wake up call about how teaching and instructional design are not the same. Let me explain. Good teachers think small. They write lessons that are tailor made for the students who are sitting in front of them that year (or class period). The idea of knowing your kids and creating an assignment that is tailor made for them is the goal. The ideal. When I started the produsage assignment I approached it from this direction. What will the sixth graders that I have in my class this year be able to do? What do I want to accomplish with them? What I have come to realize that instructional designers think BIG ! It's not about what you need for just a few kids who you see everyday. Instructional designers create lessons on a much larger scale. The lessons you create nee...

I might be crazy!!

So I did something a little crazy and decided to get a summer job working with little ones. As most of you know I am a middle school math teacher. My summer job of choice working with 6, 7 and 8 year olds. I want to stop here and give a shout out to all the lower elementary school teachers out there. I will take teenage angst over little tears any day. I don't know how you do it! What is my reasoning? I wanted to try something new? I wanted to see how the other half lives? I am secretly a glutton for punishment? Not really sure, but they did offer me some insight into this whole digital native argument. Let me start by saying that the number of littles who have a device of their own is mind boggling to me. I remember forcing my kids to wait until late middle or high school to have their own device. Most of the students in my camp group have a device that is web enabled. By definition these kids are digital natives, but I have noticed a few things. 1. They don't ta...

Thing That Make You Go HMMM!!

Okay so I admit I lost it this week! If you read my previous blog, you know what I'm talking about, if you didn't you should check it out (warning there is cursing and stupidity involved). It's a good read. Really Okay so I have been watching the news to see what other counties are going to do. Mostly I have been watching to see what OCPS is going to do. I want to see if I am going to have to run screaming from the building because I have gone completely mad. But anyway, no word on OCPS but I really like what two counties have decided to do. The premise of this whole idea of parental rights in school involves parents wanting to control what their student learns. If I am being honest, that doesn't really bother me. I think parents should be involved. My issue is when the will of the few gets imposed on the many. That isn't fair. Two counties in Florida have found a creative way to stop this from happening. Polk county has six books that have been challenged. Paren...

Tired Teacher

Search This Blog